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I don't know if I knew this and just forgot, but I just read that M wanted to sing on Massive Attack's "Teardrop" but two out of the three members of the group preferred Elizabeth Fraser. This would have been between in 1996 or 1997, so I wonder if it would have ended up on Mezzanine or ROL or maybe both. It probably wouldn't have fit on ROL, but then it probably would have become a different song with M's stamp on it. I adore MA and wish they had worked with M more (they did "I Want You" together). Of course, "Teardrop" is MA's most recognizable song. M had such a good ear and great taste back then!

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I'm a big MA fan as well I've read that too, she was positive on the song after hearing the demo that was sent by mushroom to her but the 2 other members preferred Frazer either way it's a gorgeous song. I wish we at least had a demo with M's voice as well. I PRAY she works with them again 3D loved their collab and is a fan!Plus I can't think of anything better than the production and atmosphere they create on their music and it suits M's voice so so well as it showed on I want you!

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I'm a big MA fan as well I've read that too, she was positive on the song after hearing the demo that was sent by mushroom to her but the 2 other members preferred Frazer either way it's a gorgeous song. I wish we at least had a demo with M's voice as well. I PRAY she works with them again 3D loved their collab and is a fan!Plus I can't think of anything better than the production and atmosphere they create on their music and it suits M's voice so so well as it showed on I want you!

I think it was Andy Vowles who sent it to M. He's no longer active with the group since that album (allegedly the M thing was the final straw that made him leave).

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This has always bugged the hell out of me. It was already a massive hit but imagine how much bigger it would of been with Madonna on board. She would have sounded sensational singing that song and it would of been perfect for her at the time. Im definately here for another Madonna/Massive Attack collaboration. Her downtempo electronic stuff is my favourite Madonna. Bedtime Story, I Want You, Drowned World, Swim, Skin, Frozen, WIFLFAG etc to die for. Im excited about this Billboard dude and what it could mean for her sound.

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I do wonder though abotu the final result. The magic of the song is about Elizabeth Fraser, whose weird voice suits the video perfectly. The voice comes from the fetus and I can't imagine Madonna singing like a fetus

It's like the song One on One by Robert Miles. It 's the voice of Maria Nayler what really makes the song, even though the song itself is gorgeous

Just compare it with Edyta's voice. Beautiful song and cover, but it lacks the dreamy component, the x factor.

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This has always bugged the hell out of me. It was already a massive hit but imagine how much bigger it would of been with Madonna on board. She would have sounded sensational singing that song and it would of been perfect for her at the time. Im definately here for another Madonna/Massive Attack collaboration. Her downtempo electronic stuff is my favourite Madonna. Bedtime Story, I Want You, Drowned World, Swim, Skin, Frozen, WIFLFAG etc to die for. Im excited about this Billboard dude and what it could mean for her sound.

Billboard as in the guy who worked on "Ghosttown" and some songs by Kesha and Britney? No thanks! Couldn't be further from the essence or caliber of Massive Attack in my opinion. Honestly, the last time she collaborated with someone that made sense or felt organic and exciting was Stuart Price. Her output since then speaks for itself.

Billboard as in the guy who worked on "Ghosttown" and some songs by Kesha and Britney? No thanks! Couldn't be further from the essence or caliber of Massive Attack in my opinion. Honestly, the last time she collaborated with someone that made sense or felt organic and exciting was Stuart Price. Her output since then speaks for itself.

Falling Free was Glorious and organic.

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I am a big fan of both Massive Attack and Madonna, but for some reason this doesn't bother me all that much. Teardrop isn't even one of my favorite songs of theirs, I prefer the Blue Line Album but even on Mezzanine I prefer other songs to that one. I think the female vocalist from Blue Lines is the best female singer they have had.

Besides, their sound is very dark, particularly on Mezzanine, and I don't think that is really Madonna's style. That could be why I don't listen to Erotica or Rebel Heart that often.

And if she had continued working with MA, maybe we would not have gotten ROL or Music.

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"What brought the band to breaking point, it seems, was a strange episode that Marshall described as “an act of treachery”.

In the spring of 1997, Neil Davidge came up with a pretty harpsichord part that inspired Vowles to add a beat and solemn piano chords. He called the track No Don’t and talked about finding a soul vocalist for it. The others, however, insisted on former Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser. Vowles objected. A little while later Madonna’s manager called the studio and said that his client, who had previously worked with Massive on a cover of Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, loved No Don’t and would be delighted to record it for herself. The band never found out who had offered her the track but the finger pointed at Vowles. That was the backbiting intrigue that lay behind the most beautiful song on the LP, now rewritten and renamed Teardrop."

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"What brought the band to breaking point, it seems, was a strange episode that Marshall described as “an act of treachery”.

In the spring of 1997, Neil Davidge came up with a pretty harpsichord part that inspired Vowles to add a beat and solemn piano chords. He called the track No Don’t and talked about finding a soul vocalist for it. The others, however, insisted on former Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser. Vowles objected. A little while later Madonna’s manager called the studio and said that his client, who had previously worked with Massive on a cover of Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, loved No Don’t and would be delighted to record it for herself. The band never found out who had offered her the track but the finger pointed at Vowles. That was the backbiting intrigue that lay behind the most beautiful song on the LP, now rewritten and renamed Teardrop."

That's interesting ! Love this kind of story...

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I didn't say she hasn't made glorious or organic songs recently. I said the collaborations haven't felt organic. She used to be much more plugged in to what was cool or interesting. Now it just feels like she picks names out of a hat (or works with whoever Guy O. tells her is cool). I don't want to get off topic here though.

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I don't know if I knew this and just forgot, but I just read that M wanted to sing on Massive Attack's "Teardrop" but two out of the three members of the group preferred Elizabeth Fraser. This would have been between in 1996 or 1997, so I wonder if it would have ended up on Mezzanine or ROL or maybe both. It probably wouldn't have fit on ROL, but then it probably would have become a different song with M's stamp on it. I adore MA and wish they had worked with M more (they did "I Want You" together). Of course, "Teardrop" is MA's most recognizable song. M had such a good ear and great taste back then!

I thought it was the other way around? Not that Madonna wanted to do it, but that Andrew wanted Madonna. (That Andrew was outvoted by the other two members of the band is definitely right though.)

When Neil Davidge picked out a pretty harpsichord melody one April day in 1997, there was no hint of the drama to come. Vowles, arriving at the studio, asked him what the tune was. Davidge replied it had just entered his head. Taken by it, Vowles got him to play it into the computer, whereupon they began adding sombre piano chords and beats. They gave it the working title No Don’t – a back-to-front way of saying “don’t know”. It already had the potential to be the equal of Protection’s heart-tugging tide track.

In the three years since Tracey Thorn sang that song, Massive’s pool of suitable (and available) vocalists had changed. Del Naja’s one-time part-ner-in-rap Tricky, now a solo star, was no longer an option; to compensate, Marshall had to increase his own role considerably. The only female singer used on the sessions so far was a discovery of Picken’s, Sara Jay, who sang Dissolved Girl. Vocalists for other tracks remained up in the air. “You just hear a piece of music and think, So-and-so would sound good on this,” Vowles deliberates.

“It just makes itself apparent to you. It’s like deciding what clothes to wear.”

Vowles, whose attachment to No Don’t had grown strong, believed it needed a soul vocalist. Marshall and Del Naja, however, imagined someone entirely different: Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. They argued over this – bitterly. As Fraser was pencilled in for a session in late May, Vowles saw his control over the song slipping away. Years of simmering tension came to a head. Something happened that put everybody in a terribly awkward position: one day Massive got a call from Madonna’s management in America saying she adored No Don’t and would – of course, thank you – be delighted to use it. Er… what? Nobody has ever confirmed Vowles as the sender.

By the time Massive extricated themselves from this embarrassment, relations between Vowles and the others had deteriorated, but he still had one last card to play. When Fraser sang her chillingly lovely melody line (on what was now called Teardrop), it wasn’t to the instrumental backing of No Don’t, but to a similar instrumental constructed by Davidge from several other sources. Petulantly, Vowles had taken his ball home with him.

So, it sounds like Andrew Vowles may have gone a bit rogue and mailed the track off to Madonna without anyone else's permission? Then when she said "Yes, I want it" there was a bit of a row inside the group, and Andrew submitted to what the other two wanted all along?

EDIT 2: Seeing now that Kim already posted something along these lines above. Gotta take the time to read the whole thread before replying next time.

I didn't say she hasn't made glorious or organic songs recently. I said the collaborations haven't felt organic. She used to be much more plugged in to what was cool or interesting. Now it just feels like she picks names out of a hat (or works with whoever Guy O. tells her is cool). I don't want to get off topic here though.

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I don't think you understand what I'm saying or what I mean by "organic." It's cool.

Yes and no...we also have to remember her kids are older and have their own personality and are the ones exposing M to music so in a sense it makes sense she would hook up with diplo but at the same time she had no real connection with someone like him so i guess in that sense its not organic. Avicii felt very meh. Glad he got pushed to the side. What would you say is the key to work oragnically? Who would you suggest?

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The only musician she worked with organically (meaning something that came about naturally) was Bray. Everything else has been a calculated move as a pop star.

I think she was floundering the in the early to mid 90s and was looking for an underground sound, like when she had Bjork write her a song on Bedtime Stories. Nellee Hooper was a producer for both Bjork and Massive Attack/Blue Lines. Dance music in the 90s was dead, and big ballads, R and B and Grunge weren't really options for her.

I think Guy did find Orbit and Mirwais for her, two of the best things she has ever done, IMO. And Avicii, which I really like their collaborations although I know some don't.

It does seem like she's playing it very safe and striving for the chart hits lately. But we don't know if more interesting/edgier producers have turned her down. As she becomes older and more irrelevant, it is quite possible.